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Flaws in campaign finance reports

Even with a late start, Republican Eric Holcomb handily won election as governor. His fourth-quarter campaign finance report shows he raised more than $11 million through Oct. 24 and had a balance of about $1 m

Even with a late start, Republican Eric Holcomb handily won election as governor. His fourth-quarter campaign finance report shows he raised more than $11 million through Oct. 24 and had a balance of about $1 million at the contribution reporting deadline. He would collect another $3 million-plus in large contributions – $1,000 or more – between the deadline and Election Day.

But the cash didn’t stop flowing. Since Nov. 8 Holcomb has collected nearly $160,000 in large gifts, including $10,000 from drugmaker Eli Lilly’s political action committee, $25,000 from Duke Energy and $50,000 from charter school sponsor Christel DeHaan, who supported Democrat John Gregg before Holcomb was elected. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indiana, preparing to negotiate a compact with the governor’s office to operate a casino in South Bend, gave $15,000 to Gregg on Oct. 28 and $10,000 to Holcomb on Nov. 3.

The contributions can be followed with a laborious search of data, but the task is huge. With each election cycle, state-level political committees rake in millions from individuals and organizations seeking influence. While state law prescribes contribution limits and reporting requirements, an investigation by students at Indiana University’s Media School raises troubling questions about oversight. Students looked at more than 1.2 million contribution reports between 2000 and 2015 to find data “riddled with errors and formatting issues that stand in the way of a clear and comprehensive picture of money in Indiana politics.”

Assistant Professor Gerry Lanosga, who covered Indiana politics as a reporter for nearly 20 years, suggested the project based on his own interest in following money in politics, beginning in the days when all contributions were reported in writing.

“I was elated when the state put the data online, then deflated when I realized the quality of the data was not there,” he said.

The IU project is not the first to highlight the state’s flawed campaign finance system. The Center for Public Integrity a year ago gave Indiana a D- in a report examining each state’s ability to deter corruption in state government. Indiana earned an F and ranked 47th among the states on measures of political financing.

But the students’ work is the most detailed investigation so far, examining campaign filings for candidates for governor, the General Assembly and other statewide positions. They found the state does little to verify or audit information submitted by the candidates’ political committees, in spite of many examples of “dirty data” – spelling errors and missing information.

The Media School report found nearly $1 billion was taken in by state candidates between 2000 and 2015. Indiana is one of only a dozen states without limits on individual or political action committee contributions. Corporate contributions are prohibited in 22 states, but not Indiana.

Lanosga said he hopes the project will spur changes to improve transparency, some of which could be made through the Indiana Election Division in Secretary of State Connie Lawson’s office. Short of reforming Indiana’s lax campaign finance laws, the next-best thing is disclosure of who is contributing and how much.